Jef Rietsma | Special to Hometown GazetteLeonidas Township resident Eric VerHey stands by a public notice announcing the proposed CAFO in April.

LEONIDAS -- The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on Monday denied a discharge permit for a proposed concentrated-animal-feeding operation, siding with opponents who claimed the environmental and economic impact of the dairy farm would adversely affect the quality of life in this corner of St. Joseph County.

The decision is considered precedent-setting because it is the first time in fielding more than 200 such requests that the Michigan DEQ has turned down backers of a proposed CAFO seeking the discharge permit, said Bob McCann, press secretary for the state agency.

"Right now I'm not 100 percent sure of the appeal options because it's a decision the DEQ has never made," McCann said Monday night.

Word about the verdict reached the plan's most vocal opponent, Eric VerHey, late afternoon Monday. VerHey, who lives on Fulton Road in Leonidas Township adjacent to a portion of the proposed CAFO property, said he and opponents knew they faced long odds because of the muscle behind Michigan's Right-To-Farm Act.

"We were up against the Farm Bureau, the farm-friendly laws, the politicians -- all pretty intimidating forces," the Portage Central Middle School science teacher said. "But we educated ourselves, reacted based on facts and not hysteria, and never accepted the notion that we wouldn't get the DEQ to see our point of view."

The fate of the proposed dairy farm is unclear. Wauseon, Ohio-based Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development LLC., over the past year purchased 275 acres of land along the north side of Longnecker Road with intentions of helping German farmer Juergen Bustorf establish a dairy farm featuring more than 2,000 cows.

Vreba-Hoff spokeswoman Cecilia Conway could not be reached for comment late Monday.

McCann said Vreba-Hoff officials were made aware of the decision Monday afternoon but he was not informed of the reaction or whether the company over the next 60 days will exercise its right to an appeal, he said. If so, an administrative law court in Lansing would likely handle the appeal process, he said.

Bustorf still has the right to operate a dairy farm on the site, but to comply with DEQ regulations he would not be allowed to have more than 699 cows without securing a discharge permit.